Transcending Time
by Tailmon16
Summary: What happens when Crono is mysteriously dumped on Coruscant? And will he even be able to communicate with Luke and the others? Read on to find out. NJOCT crossover Rating may change.


This story randomly popped into my head one afternoon as I was listening to CT music. I've been re-reading NJO, so I thought "What would happen if I mixed it with CT?" Hope it's an enjoyable read:) It takes place after The Unifying Force and before the Dark Nest trilogy, and after the end of CT.

Disclaimer: Nintendo/Sqauresoft/Akira Toriyama own CT. George Lucas and every author who's ever written an NJO book owns Star Wars: NJO. No da.

Chapter 1: The Boy With The "Punk Hairdo"

Jacen Solo leaned over the railing of the balcony attached to the Solos' apartment on Coruscant. His eerily calm brown eyes took in the surroundings with all the voracity of a Barabel appetite. _I still can't believe the war is over_ he mused. To the young Jedi it seemed like an eternity since there had been peace in the galaxy. But even though the war had ended, Jacen Solo's world had been irrevocably changed. The scintillating rainbow rings that now circled Coruscant were a visible reminder of all that he and his family and friends had lost, and how much they had matured and grown.

"Lost in your thoughts again, brother?" came a teasing female voice from behind him.

"Just pondering," Jacen replied, as he turned around to face his twin sister Jaina.

She arched her eyebrows. "Pondering, huh?" She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Well, Mr. Mystic, Uncle Luke needs you briefly. That is, if you can spare a moment from your 'pondering'".

Jacen finally grinned. "All right, all right, I get the hint. Lead the way."

"He's at the new Temple," Jaina explained as they left the Solo apartment.

In the months since the Yuuzhan Vong invasion had been permanently halted, Luke Skywalker had made re-building the Jedi Temple a top priority. It was at the same location as the old one, and Luke had ensured that the basic architecture and internal structure remained the same by consulting old records that had recently been recovered.

Ten minutes later, the twins arrived at the new Temple, and Jaina lead her brother up to a small conference room where their parents and their aunt and uncle were waiting.

Jacen smiled at all present and asked without preamble, "So, what's going on?"

"Hey, kiddo," his father said with his infamous roguish grin.

"Hello, Jacen," Leia greeted, smiling sweetly.

"Glad you could make it, Jacen," his Uncle Luke said. "Mara will explain why I've called this meeting."

Mara Jade Skywalker drew Jacen's attention to a hologram. "We detected an unusual energy source buried underneath the Temple this morning. It's remained steady, but who knows how long that will last?" \

"In other words, we're supposed to go down and investigate, right?" Jacen said as his mouth quirked.

"Correct," Luke replied. "Construction droids have already created a path for us down to the disturbance. If it's all right with you, we'll head down immediately."

"Sounds fine," Jacen said.

Half an hour later, Luke, Mara, Jacen, Jaina, Han, and Leia were approaching the end of the path.

"Strange," Luke murmured. "I can't sense anything in the Force from it."

Han tensed. This reminded him far too much of the Yuuzhan Vong. Of course, everyone else in the party was a Jedi, so they had instantly realized something was amiss.

Entering the rough-hewn chamber that the construction droids had built around the energy source, the six of them stared in astonishment.

A blue, white-striped portal roughly six feet across was fluctuating widely in midair.

Han was the first to break the silence with a whistle. "Well, this is new," he commented.

All of a sudden, a blinding flash lit the room. When everybody was able to see again, they were astonished to see a young man slightly younger than Jacen drop from the portal. The portal then vanished as mysteriously and rapidly as it had appeared. The boy was unconscious, but did not seem to be injured. Luke and the other Jedi were relieved to be able to find him in the Force. The young man had a head full of spiky red hair tied back with a white strip of cloth. He wore slightly baggy white pants belted around his narrow waist, a loose, sleeveless blue shirt, and short leather boots. A yellow bandana circled his neck, and there were gold bands on his wrists. Jaina's eyes were particularly drawn to an odd-looking, long object hanging from his belt.

"Uncle Luke," she whispered, "is that a real sword?"

He nodded solemnly. "I believe so."

No one had used such an antiquated weapon for tens of thousands of years. Luke had no idea how this young man had come into possession of one.

"We should take him back to a medic and make sure that he's all right," Leia said.

"Agreed," Mara replied, and was about to scoop him up when he began to stir. His eyes flickered open, revealing their brilliant green color. He instantly jumped to his feet and drew his sword, staring about in confusion. The dim light reflected off the rainbow-hued alloy of his blade.

The young man blinked at them and said, "Ore wa doko ni iru ka? Aitsura wa dare?" (Where am I? Who are you?)

They just stared right back at him.

"The one time we need Goldenrod," Han muttered to himself. "It figures."

"It's all right," Leia said soothingly, her hands in front of her to show that she held no weapons. "We won't hurt you."

The redhead seemed to compose himself at their reaction, and slightly lowered his sword. "You speak English?" he stated haltingly with an accent.

"English?" Han repeated with a bemused expression. "You mean Basic."

Leia shushed him, and then turned to the swordsman. "You can understand us, right?"

"Some words, yes," he replied with a nod. To everyone's relief, he sheathed his blade and held forth his hand to be shaken. "I am Crono."

Luke stepped forward and shook his hand. "I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master. This is my wife, Mara Jade Skywalker, and my sister, Leia Organa Solo. The other man is her husband, Han Solo, and the two around your age are their children, Jacen and Jaina Solo."

"Nice to meet you," Crono said, smiling.

"Same here, kid," Han replied. The others responded with murmurs of assent.

"What was that thing that brought you here?" Mara inquired.

"Thing?" Crono asked.

"It was a blue portal with white stripes and made a brilliant flash," Luke clarified.

Crono's expression cleared. "Ah, you mean a Gate." Then he frowned. "But I thought all the Gates were gone."

"'Gate'? What do you mean by that?" Jaina asked.

Crono slapped himself on the forehead. "Lucca's going to kill me," he muttered.

"Well? What's a Gate?" Jaina demanded. Leia sent her a warning look to let her know she was being rude. Not surprisingly, Jaina completely ignored it.

Crono sighed and said seriously, "What I am going to tell you cannot be shared with anyone else."

"All right," Luke said before his wife, niece, or brother-in-law could object.

"A Gate is a way to time travel," Crono continued calmly.

There was a moment of dead silence.

"You can't expect us to believe that," Han said incredulously. "It's impossible to travel through time."

Crono fixed him with a piercing green gaze. "My world would have no future, and I would not be alive right now, if time travel was impossible," he stated with quiet conviction.

"He's telling the truth, Han," Luke whispered.

"But…" Han sputtered.

Leia intervened at that point. "Crono, why don't you come back to our apartment and all of us can talk some more? I'm sure you must be hungry."

Han chuckled and Crono blushed when the redhead's stomach answered for him. "I'll take that as a yes," the former smuggler laughed.

On the way back to the Solos' apartment, Crono told his whole story. Luke and the others listened without comment until the end.

"That's quite a tale," Luke finally said. "You'll forgive us if it's a bit hard to swallow."

Crono nodded. "I understand," he replied. His green eyes became troubled and distant. "I just wish I knew where my friends were. I want to know if this happened to them also."

"I can sympathize with that," Han said with great conviction. Everyone else present nodded emphatically.

Crono stared about him in astonishment the entire trip. Luke realized that if what the young man had said was true, he had never seen anything like this level of technology in his life. However, Luke was surprised to note that Crono did not seem very startled by droids. In fact, he began to christen every droid he saw "Robo 2, Robo 3" and so on and so forth. The Jedi Master could tell by Han's bemused expression that he was just as confused by the redhead's behavior.

Dinner did not turn out to be the subdued affair Leia had feared it would be. Crono proved to be a pleasant young man, though he was a bit too serious at times. She offered to let him stay in the guest bedroom for the night, and he gratefully accepted. After he had retired for the night, she stepped out onto the balcony to talk with her brother.

"What do you make of this, Luke?" she asked.

He shook his head. "As fantastic as his tale seems, I believe him. I sensed no lies in him through the Force. And there is the matter of him carrying such an ancient weapon. I even had Threepio run an analysis on the language he used when we first met. Threepio told me that it's called Japanese or Nihongo, and it hasn't been used for many, many centuries. It took him half an hour to find any references to it at all."

Leia whistled. "So, he is who he claims to be. But that brings up the hard decision of whether or not to send him back. Wouldn't he alter the time stream by bringing back knowledge of the future?"

Luke smiled wryly. "That is the dilemma. Frankly, it gives me a headache just thinking about the potential consequences of time travel."

"But, Luke, he told us that he wouldn't be alive right now without time travel," she said, her eyes glistening. "What if we could bring back Anakin and Chewbacca the same way he was resurrected?"

Luke stared at her in astonishment. "You know how difficult it was for his friends to revive him," he finally managed to say. "It may not be possible."

"I know," Leia said. But her face glowed with determination and renewed hope. "But that won't stop me from trying. Crono can help me."


End file.
